Australia’s national science agency CSIRO will cut up to 500 staff from its enterprise services arm as part of restructure designed to reduce labour and operating costs by $100 million.
CSIRO chief executive Doug Hilton confirmed the planned jobs cuts on Tuesday, ending months of speculation over the fate of a division comprised of more than 2,400 public servants.
Mr Hilton commissioned the Enterprise Support Services (ES) Reform project soon after joining the agency in October last year, with the aim of reducing operating costs by 25 per cent.
At the time, he said cuts to ES roles like technical services, communication and information services, general services, administrative services and general management were likely but wouldn’t put a number on how many jobs would go.
But in an email to staff on Tuesday, Mr Hilton addressed the “confronting reality” now upon the ES division, advising that at least 375 jobs would be impacted as a result of the restructure.
“Up until now, it has been difficult to quantify this in terms of roles, due to the variety of factors at play. Based on modelling conducted as part of Wave 3, I can now share that the staff impact during Wave 3 of the Reform is likely to be between 375 and 500 roles.”
Mr Hilton said the range reflects “several variables” and that the CSIRO would seek to do “everything possible to minimise staff impacts”, including by looking for additional saving in the operating budget and natural staff attrition
CSIRO Staff Association secretary Susan Tonks said confirmation of the jobs cuts represents a “dark day for CSIRO and is a terrible outcome for Australia’s premier science agency.
“These cuts are a body blow for CSIRO and have the potential to cripple research output as scientists scramble to cover support gaps. However, we know that research positions at CSIRO are not safe and the cuts just keep on coming,” she said
The CSIRO has already confirmed that another 78 jobs will go in its Health and Biosecurity, Agriculture and Food and Manufacturing divisions, with further cuts expected in other business units.
Researchers at the CSIRO’s digital arm, Data61, are similarly bracing for job losses, with almost 120 jobs on the line as part of a strategy to reduce operating costs by 20 per cent.
The CSIRO Staff Association has requested that Industry and Science minister Ed Husic intervene in the restructure, which they claim will undermine the government’s industry and innovation agenda, but it was immediately ruled out by a spokesperson.
“Decisions on staffing and prioritisation of resources are matters for CSIRO management, as is appropriate for any independent agency,” the spokesperson told InnovationAus.com earlier this month.
Ms Tonks reiterated her call for the minister to step in on Tuesday, describing the current cuts as being “on track to be the worst since Tony Abbott slashed CSIRO funding in 2014”.
“Staff can’t believe that a Labor government – with a pro-science agenda and interventionist industry policy – are set to preside over hundreds of job cuts to Australia’s top researchers,” she said.
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